Spiritual Dark Art
by BlackCavern
Summary: Dharc the Dark Charmer likes to think that Ambition and Greed are two different things. But just how different are they when he holds the key to someone else's Greed?
1. Chapter 1

Dharc liked Endymion's Magical Citadel.

The city was a beauty and nearly bridged the gap between magic and machines. His friends were there, as were many of his fellow spellcasters, not to mention that he did like a bit of sunlight every now and then.

But in his book, none of it quite compared to Ohm. It was where he studied and spent a good part of his childhood. With its eternal night, the darkness in the air was so pure that there were few places better to cast dark magic.

It would've been a near paradise had the trees been less ugly and if there were fewer zombies crawling around.

A winged eyeball fiend bumped into Dharc's shoulder, "Can't we back track a little? We haven't had dinner and I'm starving!"

"Don't worry Meda Bat, I promise we'll find you something to eat once I finish up." Dharc held out his staff, letting Meda Bat hang upside down. With his other hand he adjusted his belt which he had unclipped and slung over his shoulder, the travel bag attatched to it was filled to the brim with Magical Stones. Just the thought of that accursed mine made him grimace. It was one thing to stand back and admire the glowing stones, it was another to try to pry them out of the chalky rock.

Just how did those goblins mine those caves day in and day out?

"Don't worry, " Dharc said to the bat, "We're almost there."

That was a bit of a white lie, his destination was nearly a mile away. It was nothing more impressive than a tiny house...well, actually it was more like a clay square. But it was far into the forest, a nice quiet place to concentrate with no distractions.

The Shadow Priestess of Ohm had allowed him free reign of the place to further his studies. Sure, she wasn't as warm and loving as the Elemental Mistress Doriado but she gave him a much longer leash. As much as Dharc respected Doriado, he couldn't help but become fustrated with her reluctance to give him any reign to actually use his dark magic.

Sure, Hiita could perform a fire ritual that could potentially burn down half the city but nooooo, as long as she was within a five mile radius she would stop him from performing a simple little dark ritual.

Maybe the Shadow Priestess was right when she said that Doriado feared what she could not control.

But which ever teacher he had, he needed to practice his Spiritual Art. He had wanted more than a simple attack or defense spell. If there was one thing that the Shadow Priestess had taught him, it was the power of desire. There was a reason that his Spiritual Art was labeled Greed.

He had tried to started small (after making sure that Doriado was at least six miles away from him), but ironically it was nearly impossible to perform the art on minute objects. After all, there was a limit to how much he could want an apple.

So afterwards, he had to get some help from his friends. Lyna had been yapping for weeks about Kuribohs, apparently she had never seen anything more adorable. But there was the small problem that Lyna could be rather loud and that Kuribohs can be rather jumpy.

So Dharc had sat Lyna down and asked her to tell him all about how much she wanted a Kuriboh. It didn't take long to set her off, just a few verbal jabs here and there. After forcing himself to listen to her ranting-she really did want a Kuriboh-for an undetermined amount of time, his head was pratically buzzing.

Trying very hard not to feel pleased with the result of his experiment, Dharc tried once again to perform his dark art and retrieve a Kuriboh. He had used his annoyance and perpetual headache as a focal point.

He succeeded.

Although looking back on it, it wasn't much of a real success. He hadn't made a sacrifice to the spell and the Kuriboh was only a few yards away. And not to mention that being annoyed at Lyna was neither a powerful desire nor an uncommon occurance. But everyone had to start somewhere, right?

But now he had the perfect enviornment, the proper sacrifices, and more experience.

After a long period of silence, Meda Bat piped up again.

"Are you sure you want to summon it?"

"Sure", Dharc replied, "What's the point of summoning little furry monsters? Besides, it's not like I'm going to use it or keep it, I just want a look at it."

"And you're absolutely sure she won't come after you and enact some horrible revenge?" Meda Bat asked, it's one large eye blinking rapidly.

"Saggi danced on her grave", Dharc said, "And if that clown can get away with something so stupid then I should be fine. Don't worry, she travels through the ground, right? So I'll just stick it in the dirt and she'll pick it up. If you've been dead for that long, then you must have aquired some kind of humor."

"You're not helping the whole dark equals evil stereotype, Dharc." Meda Bat sighed.

"Come now Meda Bat, you know that's a load of crap. When was the last time someone called the Dark Magician evil?" Dharc snapped back.

With that he snatched Meda Bat by the tail and tucked it under his arm to stop anymore questions.

By the time Dharc arrived at the clay square, the temperature had dropped considerably, the only indication that the hour had changed. He walked in, bolted the door behind him, and set his belt onto the bench.

Letting Meda Bat hang from the door frame, he opened his travel pack and pulled out the Magic Stones. He tossed handfulls of Magic Stones into the large silver dishes of the tall candle holders, careful not to waste any of the precious mineral.

Once the Stones were evenly distributed, he picked up the Jar of Greed from the corner. He spashed oil into the dishes before replacing the Jar, and after a moment of consideration, turned it's grinning face towards the wall.

"Okay, now the sacrifice."

With a wave of his staff he summoned the Doomsday Token that he had fished out of the forest. And with a flick of his wrist, the candle holders began to burn with an eerie blue fire.

"I think everything is ready, do you think I miss anything Meda Bat?" Dharc asked.

"Nope, not that I remember." Meda Bat answered, it tightened its claws on the frame and tried to make itself as small as possible.

Taking a deep breath, Dharc held his staff straight forward and focused on channeling his magic.

Anyone with a dark attribute would want at least a look at the object he was trying to summon. A one of a kind weapon that was made not for the living or the reanimated, but only for those who were dead from the beginning. And as far as he knew, there was only one creature that filled that requirement.

However, after several minutes, nothing seemed to be happening, the seal hadn't even appeared on the ground. Dharc had counted this as only an intermediate attempt. He was still alive so the weapon would be pratically powerless in his hands, so why was it so hard to summon?

Okay, patience, he thought to himself, focus only on your desire. The desire to further his knowledge, this was in the name of ambition. There wasn't anything else he wanted more at the moment, nothing at all. This was all to further his magic.

Throwing caution to the wind, Dharc allowed his magic to rush freely through his staff. Moments later a flash of light began to split through the floor. It formed into a round seal, forming the character for Greed in the middle.

Now with something visual to focus on, Dharc traced the lines with his magic and the light steadily grew stronger. Then a powerful blast of wind rocked the room, knocking over the Jar of Greed and nearly blowing Meda Bat off its perch.

Tendrils of darkness rose up from between the thin lines of light and seized the Doomsday Token. With in seconds and one lighting fast motion, the Token disintegrated and its energy was sucked into the seal.

Inhaling sharply, Dharc slammed the end of his staff into the ground, sending a ripple of dark magic into the seal.

"Spiritual Dark Art: Greed!" he yelled with all his might.

A burst of black light shot from the seal, through the skylight, and straight into the night sky. A reflection of the seal appeared, branded into the inky sky and and a blackened object began rising out of the seal.

Once the end of the object left the ground, the seal shattered and left its summon hovering in the air, cloaked in black.

Feeling slightly winded, Dharc reached forward and grabbed the object. The second his fingers made contact, the blackness broke, revealing a battered old scythe.

"This is it!" he whispered in wonder, "The scythe of Guardian Dreadscythe."

After setting the Jar of Greed back upright, he sat down on the bench to catch his breath. He stared at the scythe in his hands, it looked brokened and rusty but he could feel a powerful energy pulsing from it. Pure darkness radiating from metal, likely the only thing holding the ancient thing together. Never had Dharc felt such a complete power.

Meda Bat cautiously moved from his perch to Dharc's shoulder.

"Incredible, it's making my wings tingle just being near it." the bat chirped, "Are you happy now? You finally successfully cast your Spiritual Art."

"Yeah, I'm happy now." Dharc said, still a little breathless but smiling broadly.

They sat like that for a while, enjoying the waves of darkness coming off the scythe. But after a few minutes, Dharc began to regain his head.

"That's enough of that." he said, standing up so suddenly that Meda Bat nearly toppled off his shoulder, "We'd better return this before we have an angry Guardian Dreadscythe coming after us."

Walking back into the cold night air, he planted the scythe handle first deep into the ground. And just as an offer of apology, he also left the orange from his pocket.

"Wait a minute, why didn't you just eat the orange if you were so hungry?" Dharc asked.

"Nasty!" Meda Bat narrowed its eye, "After all these years together, you should know that I hate fruits and vegetables."

Dharc shook his head in mild amusement and patted the eyeball fiend, "Now let's go find you something to eat that won't make you gag."

"Can't we go find a nice restaurant? I actually want to have a nice proper dinner for once and not fly and eat like we're in some kind of rush." Meda Bat whined.

"Alright, alright," Dharc relented, "But we're not going to the Bistro Butcher's any time soon. Last time we were there, he set a Hamburger on the patrons."

**AN: Well, thanks for reading!**

**Dharc is the only charmer that I ever get to use effectively, the people I duel aren't all that diverse in their types.**

**Anyways, my interpertation on his personality is that he's more of a loner than the other charmers, cunning, and perhaps a bit cold, but not completely all doom and gloom.**

**I'm aware that my grammer is not perfect, so reviews and advice is welcomed.**

**By the way, this is not suppose to be a one-shot. Key word: suppose**


	2. Chapter 2

Dharc tried to ignore Meda Bat's claws digging into his shoulder as he clung to his seat for dear life. Around him, various other people were doing the same thing, hanging on to the nearest bolted down object to keep from being thrown out a window.

These things tended to happen whilst riding Dekoichi, it was called the Battlechanted Locomotive for good reason. It was the fastest way back to the Magical Citadel but the crazed train had no consideration for the people riding.

Dharc tried to bring his elbow over his arm rest for a better grip as the Locomotive took another sharp turn fit to send the whole machine toppling off the rails.

"You're insane!" Meda Bat shrieked directly into Dharc's ear, "What's wrong with a nice peaceful walk? Why did you have to take the psychopathic train maniac?!"

Dharc flinched as his ear ringed, "It's fast!" he shouted back.

"A fast way to get yourself killed!"

Ducking as a large trunk fell from the luggage rack, Dharc pulled himself back into an upright position, "I'm not walking day and night to get back to the Citadel, it's not that bad!" he protested.

Just as the words left his mouth, Dekoichi came to a grinding halt. Instantly everything violently lurched forward. Dharc was thrown against the far wall and sat up just in time to catch Meda Bat who came hurtling down like a mini cannon ball.

"Thank you for riding Dekoichi, the Battlechanted Locomotive. Current station: Magical Citadel, Magical Citadel of Endymion. Next stop, Mausoleum of the Emperor. Have a nice day." said an infuriatingly pleasant voice from the intercom.

Struggling to get to his feet-his knees seemed to have turned to jelly-Dharc reached up and pulled out his staff which he had lodged tightly in the gaps of the luggage rails. Then, using his staff as a crutch, he stumbled out of the train before it started again with him still on.

"See, that wasn't too bad." he said triumphantly, releasing his death grip on Meda Bat.

"Speak for yourself." said the mortified bat.

Once regaining the proper use of his legs, Dharc walked from the train station to the city gates. The market place was flooded with spellcasters and tourists going about their business, a glaring contrast to most worlds of darkness where everyone seemed to live in caves.

Even if it lacked the comfortable dim atmosphere, the excitment of the city was infectious.

Further into the residental section of the Citadel, he headed for a dome shaped house.

"Do you want to come inside?" he asked Meda Bat.

"Nah, I think I'll go stretch my wings. I need to make sure that that train ride didn't liquify my bones." with that the bat fluttered off.

Shrugging, Dharc tried to open the door but the knob refused to turn.

"Stupid old thing, the enchantment must be wearing off." he mumbled as he waited for the magical door knob to recognize him.

Eventually the knob began to work and allowed him into the house.

"I'm home." Dharc called softly as he stepped into the brightly lit house.

Instead of an acknowledgement, there was an angry yell and a doll looking suspiciously like a Flamvell Baby hurtling at his head. After getting a face full of the orange doll, and slightly annoyed at his reception, he leaned his staff against a corner and headed into the direction of the shouting.

It was in the kitchen that he came across his fellow Charmers, namely Hiita with her fist gripping Eria's coat, in mid yell and her livid hair nearly on fire from rage. Aussa, Lyna, and Wynn were busy cowering behind the counters.

"Hi Dharc!" Hiita yelled, her voice still angry and her eyes still glaring at Eria.

"When did you get home?" Eria asked, waving nervously as she could not move any other part of her body with Hiita still holding her collar.

"Just a moment ago, but don't let me interrupt you, carry on." Dharc said, trying very hard to keep from smiling.

Hiita wasted no time taking his invitation and resumed shouting incoherantly. Dharc walked over to where the other three charmers were; where there was a smaller risk of being caught in the cross fire.

"So, what is it this time?" he asked, surveying as Hiita waved her free arm wildly and Eria held up her hands in exasperation.

"Eria might have 'accidentally' pushed Hiita into a puddle." Aussa said tentatively.

"Yeah, but that was after Hiita sent Fire Fox to lock Gigobyte in her closet." Lyna piped up.

Dharc shook his head, Eria and Hiita pratically had scheduled regular intervals to get into some kind of disagreement. But even with Hiita's fiery temperment and Eria's more serene one, he had yet to see a true argument. Things tended to reset after some half hearted glaring over the dinner table.

"Right, I'm off. Call me if someone's about to die." he said, giving Wynn a hefty pat on the shoulder before making himself scarce.

Once back in the sanctity of his own room, he threw himself down onto his bed. Without the distraction of his friends, he shut his eyes and tried to settle a problem that had been nagging him since morning. It had been nearly literally knocked from his head during his ride in Dekoichi, but now home, he had to make a decision.

After successfully performing his Spiritual Art he had gone at once to inform the Shadow Priestess of Ohm. She had shown a rare moment of delight and hugged him, the shock of which nearly made him jump out of his skin. Dharc liked to think that he could control himself and remain humble but he couldn't help but feel a stab of pride.

But whether he should mention it to Doriado was another matter.

He wanted her to know that he was making progress, especially considering that she could only teach him the fundamental skills and nothing specific. But she had never seemed to approve of his dark spells, who knew what she would do if she knew that he built his Art around ambition?

What could she do? She couldn't keep him from performing magic, he was a spellcaster! But she probably could keep an annoyingly close eye on him; or if worst came to worse, keep him from ever going back to Ohm and the Shadow Priestess.

But if he kept silent then she might end up thinking that he was just lazing about doing nothing. Then sooner or later the other Charmers'll probably start to think badly of him.

Grabbing a nearby pillow he pulled it over his head, trying to drive out his thoughts.

Fine, he just won't tell her. Being thought of as a weakling was better than being under house arrest. If he wasn't going to tell Doriado then he would also have to keep quiet on the subject with the other Charmers. He couldn't trust certain spellcasters to keep their traps shut.

Indignation was starting to boil in his chest, it seemed like his hard work would just have to go unrecognized.

"Dharc!"

Dharc sat straight up at the loud banging sound that followed the shout. His room was now pitch dark. The banging started again and this time he saw his door rock on its hinges.

"Come on! Time to eat!"

It was definetly Lyna, he decided as he reluctantly swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He must have fallen asleep as the view outside his window was now one of night. Groggily he got up off the bed.

He narrowed his eyes against the lights in the hall way and ran a hand through his disheveled hair, trying to make it a little more presentable. Everyone else was already at the table and Eria was just setting down the last bowl. He slipped silently into his seat and set his head down on the table.

"You've slept all day, you don't need another nap." Hiita grabbed the hood of Dharc's coat and pulled him upright.

"Leave it Hiita, it's hard work traveling on Dekoichi." Dharc answered sleepily.

"Dekoichi?!" Lyna slammed her fist down in mock horror, "Why didn't you tell me? I've always wanted to ride on that train."

"That train's a maniac, one day it's going to fall off the tracks and down a chasm." Meda Bat flew in from an open window.

"I've always wanted to ride on a maniac train that will one day fall off the tracks and down a chasm!" Lyna shouted.

"So how was Ohm?" Eria asked, ignoring Meda Bat and Lyna as they began to debate whether getting thrown around in Dekoichi like a rag doll could be considered fun.

"Not that much different from last time, dark, scary trees, fiends roaming around everywhere." Dharc shrugged, digging into his bowl of rice, "It's great."

Not a hint of sarcasm was in his voice, he meant every word he said but Eria still raised an eyebrow.

"How could you like a place like that? It sounds positively dreary." she said gently.

"You've never been there, it's not all that pretty but...well, it must be something in the air. It's right up against Dark World, the dark energies are so pure." he replied.

"I don't think we'd be welcome." Wynn said, "Only dark attributes live there."

"You could visit", Dharc insisted, "You don't see only spellcasters here do you? Though I will admit that the tourism isn't the best around."

Casting a sideways glance to Aussa who was reading a book and absently stuffing food into her mouth, he said, "The library's amazing."

As expected, the girl's head popped up.

"Well, while you were enjoying your little vacation, we were all hard at work!" Lyna said cheerily, "You wouldn't believe how far I've come with my magic."

"Mistress Doriado has been working us rather hard." Eria added.

"Slave driving more like." Hiita grumbled

"Do you think she'll give us the day off if we all just decide not to show up?" Lyna asked.

Wynn shook her head as Dharc took care of the verbal part of the protest, "She'll kill us, every last one of us. She'll cast Fuh-Rin-Kah-Zan on us and use our magic to do it."

"But we'll still be alive." Lyna said brightly, "You don't need dark or light magic to cast Fuh-Rin-Kah-Zan."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Lyna." Aussa said from behind her book which she had now propped up agaisnt the napkin holder, "It's just an intensive course, once we all get some consistency with our Spiritual Arts we'll go back to normal training."

"You say that but some of us don't like sitting around with our heads shoved into fifty textbooks." Hiita shot back though most of her attention was now focused on the food.

"I bet my Spiritual Art is more powerful than yours!" Lyna shouted to Hiita.

"You want to test that out?" Hiita asked, a big grin on her face, "How about tommorow?"

"Please, you can't do it in the city." Wynn said quietly, "Last time you nearly destroyed the neighbor's lawn."

"Oh alright, we won't do it." Hiita waved her hand, "It's just a little competition Wynn, if Doriado is going to shove our faces into the grind stone then we should at least be allowed to use it."

Dharc set his food aside, his appetite was gone. He was also beginning to feel anxious, if they were practicing their Spiritual Arts then he might be forced to show his Dark Art. Then he would be up to his knees in trouble.

He opted not to speak anymore until dinner was over and the dishes washed.

"Alrighty!" Lyna stretched her arms, "Off to beddy byes, another day of hard core training tommorow!"

* * *

**AN: And that's chapter two.**

**For this particular story I would imagine the charmers older than how their portrayed in their original Chamer cards. I don't think even Yugioh monsters would let, what, ten year olds just wander around different worlds?  
I'd think of them more in their mid to late teens, with "Chamer" just as a title.**


	3. Chapter 3

Bright sunlight assaulted Dharc's eyes the second he convinced himself to peer over the covers. Acting upon first instinct he immediately yanked the blanket over his head and then stuck his head under his pillows for extra protection against the accursed light. However, a moment of contemplation sent him hurtling out of bed.

He yanked the curtains back to reveal a glorious afternoon much to his horror. How did he sleep so late?

How did Lyna let him sleep so late?

Wasn't it her self assigned job as the residental morning person to go about as a living breathing alarm clock?

Dressing as fast as he could and snatching his coat, he bolted out into the hallway. A couple of bedroom doors were hanging open and no one seemed to be in. They couldn't have just left him behind, could they?

To his relief, his five companions were lounging about in the living room, looking oddly subdued.

"So...lessons?" he inquired hesitantly, as he hastily pulled on his coat.

"Canceled." Hiita muttered.

Dharc raised in eyebrow, the last time they had a lesson canceled was when the Raging Flame Sprite nearly burned down the Secret Village. And they didn't exactly get to sit around as they had spent the whole day chasing down an angry little flaming child. It took hours before Hiita got the opportunity to charm it and send it on its way.

"Well, all the important old guys locked themselves into the forum house, I think Mistress Doriado is there too." Lyna said from where she was brushing Happy Lover's feathers, "But that was ages ago and you were still snoozing."

Before Dharc could say anything, there was a soft knocking. Being the only one standing, he went to get the door only to find Doriado herself.

"Teacher!" Eria exclaimed, jumping to her feet, "What are you doing here?"

Once Doriado was settled into their living room she folded her hands and sighed, causing everyone else to lean forward slightly in anticipation.

"The Chaos Sorcerer returned from Dark World today." she finally said.

"That creepy guy? Why doesn't he just stay there if he's so into all the doom and gloom?" said Lyna.

"Chaos Sorcerer is an important diplomat." Doriado chided.

"But does he have to have that creepy grin all the time." Lyna grumbled.

"There has been a shift in power in Dark World. They have a new king, a fiend named Brron." Doriado continued, pretending to ignore Lyna's comment.

"So? What's that got to do with us?" asked Hiita as she tried to keep hold of the squirming Fire Fox before it tried to gnaw the wings off of Happy Lover.

"Some say he's mad."

There was a momentary silence in the room but more attributed to that no one knew what to say rather than fear. Dharc honestly could not see the problem, he had only stepped into Dark World once but the Shadow Priestess kept him constantly informed. As far as he could tell, Dark World had its share of egomaniacal leaders but despite their fearsome appearance, most of the inhabitants were rather sane.

"With all due respect Mistress, Dark World doesn't have enough soldiers to do any severe harm under any kind of leader." Dharc finally said, "Once they hit a world that isn't Dark then everyone'll come swarming in from all corners. Paranoia's going pit everyone against them."

"Perhaps so, I hope so." Doriado said quietly.

After a quick farewell, Doriado left the six charmers to themselves.

"What's the big deal?" Lyna said as she held Happy Lover out of Fire Fox's reach, "What's some crazy fiend got to do with us?"

"Maybe nothing apparant but you never know", Aussa said, "Remember that time Birdman Joe disturbed the weather for months after the water dragons wouldn't apologise for flooding his forest?"

"I'm more worried about Ohm." Dharc said, "Dark World's right next door."

He would've gone back to check but in the event that nothing had happened, he doubted the Shadow Priestess would appreciate his skittishness. That and Meda Bat would not appreciate another ride on the train.

Wait, Meda Bat!

"Meda Bat, come over here for a second." Dharc held out his arm and let the eyeball field hang upside down from his sleeve, "Do you think you can fly over to Ohm to check if everything is alright?"

"Oh, alright." the bat conceded, "But you owe me a week off after this, and I'm not going anywhere until it's dark outside."

Once dusk fell over the Citadel, Dharc opened up his window and once a promising breeze blew by, he tossed Meda Bat into the night.

"Don't get eaten!" he called half heartedly into the dark, watching the little bat flap off into the distance, "And do not even think about teasing the Red Eyes Zombie Dragons again!"

* * *

"Easy Dharc, you're going to cut off a finger!" Eria yelped.

Dharc snapped back into reality to find the knife in his hand was hovering over his fingers instead of the Mushroom Man.

"Sorry." he said quickly before going to back slicing.

Five days had passed since he tossed Meda Bat unceremoniously out his bedroom window. Five days and the winged eyeball still had not returned. Even if it had been caught in some unfortunate draft of wind, it should have been back days ago. He had gone so far as to ask Wynn to send Petite Dragon to the nearby Wind tribes but still nothing.

Feeling a sudden surge of anger he chopped down as hard as he could, splintering the board, and tossed the Mushroom Man into the pot of boiling water Eria was tending.

He stormed into the study and found his other four friends pouring over their spell books.

"I'm leaving, tell Doriado I don't care what she says!" he shouted, snatching up his staff from its holder.

"You're leaving?!" came a collective and jumbled shout.

"B-but, why?" Lyna shouted, "I'm sorry I'm too loud in the morning. I won't do it anymore! I'm sorry I jump on you to wake you up, I won't do it again!"

"You can't just leave!" Aussa exclaimed at the same time as Lyna's flurry of apologies.

Hiita looked about ready to tackle him and staple him to the wall.

"I'm not leaving for good!" Dharc said, jumping at the sudden crescendo, "I need to go to Ohm to find Meda Bat."

"Oh." they said, once again collectively.

"Doriado'll never let you go alone." Hiita said, now once again relaxed, "The whole reason she even lets you go to Ohm is because Meda Bat's there to tell us if you get run over or something."

"Well she'll just have to deal with it." Dharc said, already heading for the door. He yanked his coat off the rack and thrust his arms through it. "I can't just leave Meda Bat to the Plague Wolves."

"Hey! Why don't we go ask her now?" Lyna skipped up from behind.

"Ask her? And give her the chance to stop me?" Dharc said in utter disbelief.

"No, ask if she'll let some of us go with you." Lyna slapped him upside the head, "I bet I can replace Meda Bat for this one time."

"You just want a ride on Dekoichi don't you?"

"Hey!" Lyna held up her hands in indignation, "That's not all of it! I want to find Meda Bat too!"

"Yeah, Dharc." Hiita threw her arm around his neck, nearly dragging him to the floor, "Who says you get to hog all the fun to yourself?"

In the end, it really didn't make a difference what Dharc thought seeing as with Hiita on board, the two charmers dragged him to Doriado's temple.

"Mistress Doriado!" Lyna yelled, completely shattering the serene atmosphere, "Dharc wants to ask you something!"

Dharc shook his head at Lyna verbally shoving him forward. He hesitantly approached Doriado who seemed to have been praying at the Ritual Altar.

"Uh...sorry for disturbing you but...is there any way you'd let me go to Ohm?" he started hesitantly, "If I brought along-"

"If we tag along?" Lyna cut in, the girl pratically had rainbows flying off her.

"Did you not return from Ohm not long ago?" Doriado asked, casting a smile at Lyna.

"Well," Dharc rubbed his arm, "You see, I kind of sent Meda Bat back to Ohm to make sure that there wasn't any trouble from Brron and Dark World. And that was five days ago."

Doriado remained silent.

Anxiety fueling his sense of urgency, Dharc continued, "I can't just leave it there, it might know its way around but Meda Bat's no good in battle. It's my familiar and I was the one to send it to Ohm in the first place."

There was a gleam of understanding in Doriado's gentle expression and finally she nodded, "I will allow it if you take Lyna and Hiita with you. But you will only be there to find Meda Bat and nothing else. Am I understood?"

"Perfectly." Dharc said in relief.

After a quick thanks he turned to Hiita and Lyna, "Pack lightly, we're leaving in ten minutes."

* * *

**AN: And the third chapter.**

**As always, thank you for reading, opinions and advice will be greatly appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

Being a mad psychopathic train that rampaged through several dozen worlds, Dekoichi's train stations hosted a plethora of creatures from all over. But no matter how many times Dharc waited at the station, tapping his finger against his knee out of sheer habit, he never quite got use to occasions like these when he could swear that the Servant of Catabolism next to him was throwing him sideways glares.

Not only did the squid like monster look horribly out of place on land, Dharc was also unsure as to where the Servant was actually looking at seeing as its pitch black eyes lacked any focal point.

Across from him, standing like a statue in the farthest corner was a tall blonde man whose face was partially obscured by a tattered beige cloak. The man himself didn't seem to realize anything but Dharc couldn't help but notice that the large Silver Fang at his feet was growling at Fire Fox.

And was that a Beaver Warrior gnawing on a Metal Fish?

But to Dharc the greatest mystery of all was: how, with all the foreign creatures and people around, could Lyna be fidgiting in boredom?

Sighing, he decided to keep quiet, after all, so far both Hiita and Lyna had followed his directions. They had packed and arrived at the train station with all haste, but eight minutes of sitting quietly was just too much for Lyna. Hiita on the other hand, seemed to have noticed the Silver Fang bristling at Fire Fox.

"How much longer?" Lyna asked, jabbing Dharc in the arm with her staff.

"Two minutes." Dharc pushed her staff away.

Lyna fell silent again, but thirty seconds later, "Why isn't it here yet?"

Dharc resisted the urge to sigh, Lyna's sense of time seemed to go down the drain whenever a basic skill called patience came into the equation.

"Lyna, if you would just sit down, I'm sure the train would-" Dharc was cut off by a loud metallic roar and a blast of wind, a split second lator Dekoichi came to a screaming halt in front of them, "Oh, I guess Dekoichi is running early today."

Once Hiita managed to drag Fire Fox away from its scowling contest, the three Charmers filed onto the train and picked a seat far away from the much larger, much more menacing looking Silver Fang. Lyna immediately jumped into the window seat and Hiita took the aisle seat to give Fire Fox the arm rest, leaving Dharc with the middle seast.

"Here, you might want to do this before the train starts", Dharc jammed his staff into the luggage rack, "Trust me, and Lyna, you might want to put Happy Lover up there too."

"Dekoichi, the Battlechanted Locomotive is ready to leave the station. Please ensure that all luggage is securely fasten to the luggage racks above. Next station: The World Tree." said the pleasant intercom voice.

Almost before the intercom crackled off, the train leaped forward, slamming everyone back into their seats. Lyna shouted with delight as other passangers grabbed onto anything solid in terror. Unfortunately, being in the middle seat, Dharc did not have anything to keep from being at the mercy of the crazy locomotive.

Pratically stuck to his seat, Dharc watched the green blur that he believed were trees tear by while marveling at how Lyna was plastered to the window in utter joy while everyone else was blanched with fear.

"Hey!" Hiita yelled, seizing Dharc's arm a bit harder than necessary, "Is it going to be like this the whole time?"

"Actually Hiita, this is the calmer part of the ride, it gets really bad when-"

Almost as if on cue, Dekoichi took a violent swing to the left, shrieking all the while as for a few moments, one side of the train's wheels completely left the ground. Lacking anything to keep him in place, Dharc crashed into Lyna.

"Sorry!" he yelled over the shouts of the other passangers and the train itself.

"This is amazing!" Lyna screamed back, she had stuck Happy Lover into her hood but the winged angel didn't seemed to share her excitment.

For a brief moment, Dharc's marvel at Lyna's enthusiasm and horror at how violent a single train could be, turned to depression. Somehow, the train ride just wasn't the same without Meda Bat constantly screeching in his ear about how speed was never worth life and limb.

Time tended to get blurry when one was trying hard not to be murdered by a Battlechanted Locomotive so Dharc wasn't quite sure how long it took to reach The World Tree. But Dekoichi eased to a stop just as gently as it had at the Citadel's train station and promptly threw all its passangers forward.

Luckily for Dharc, he was somewhat prepared for the event and just ended up standing up, but Hiita was quite nearly thrown on her face and Lyna managed to survive by holding onto the window sill.

"Current station: The World Tree, repeat, The World Tree. Please ensure that you have all your personal belongings before exiting. Thank you for riding on Dekoichi, the Battlechanted Locomotive, have a nice day!", once again came the infuriatingly calm and serene voice.

About half a dozen or so people and creatures stumbled eagerly out of the doors while a few passangers climbed in. Everyone else took the opportunity to drag themselves back into their seats and contemplate just what they had gotten themselves into.

"How many more stations are there?" Hiita asked, picking a very green Fire Fox off the floor.

"Well-"

The train took off and once again, they were flattened against their seats.

In all his time, Dharc had never been able to pinpoint exactly how long it took for Dekoichi to get to Ohm. That and he was starting to get a nagging suspicion that the insane train didn't have any particular order of stops. But what he did know was that three hours later, he had had enough. Trying to keep from having his head smashed in was tiring work and Dharc could only tolerate it for so long before feeling that he'd go mad.

"Keep going! Faster!" Lyna shouted gleefully.

"I'm sorry to say this but you're a mad woman!" Dharc shouted at her.

"This train stopped being fun about two hours ago!" Hiita yelled.

"Trust me, if I could stop it, I would!"

Just as Dharc's head began to spin and he was very sure that Fire Fox was about to vomit, the train stopped with all grace, sending up sparks and screams of passangers in the process.

"Current stop: Ohm, repeat, Ohm. Please ensure that-"

Not stopping to listen, Dharc jumped to his feet-albiet a bit wobbly-and pulled all three of their staffs out of the luggage rack and headed for the door as if his life depended on it. Once off, Dharc and Hiita were grateful to sit down for a moment and gather their bearings, Lyna on the other handed, skipped out quite happily.

"Aw, you didn't enjoy it?" she asked Happy Lover who looked completely shell shocked.

"We're going to have to take that train home, aren't we?" Hiita asked, more of a statement than a question.

"It's either Dekoichi, or walking for the better part of a week." Dharc answered breathlessly.

"Dekoichi it is then!" Lyna picked up her staff and looked around, "Sure is dark here. Is it night time already?"

"Do I need to remind you that Ohm is a world of darkness?" Dharc snapped, he took a deep breath to compose himself, "It's always night here."

"No problem! I'll just make us some light!" Lyna raised her staff.

"Put that thing down!" Dharc said quickly, "I mean it when I say it's always night. And everyone here's a dark attribute so they don't exactly need light to see. Don't you think it'll be the least bit suspicious if you suddenly summon up a lighthouse?"

"But it's creepy." Lyna mourned, "And I wasn't going to summon a lighthouse, just a harmless little ball of light."

"I'm sorry, but you can't make a light." Dharc shook his head, trying to clear up his frayed nerves, "And you too Hiita, no fires, no matter how dark it gets. Some people here don't really appreciate non-dark folks. We won't be here for long, we're just going to find Meda Bat and head straight home. Alright?"

"Right, and the less time we spend here the better." Hiita stood up and set Fire Fox on her shoulder, "Lead the way Dharc, I don't know about you but I agree with Lyna. This place really gives me the creeps."

Unlike his two companions, Dharc soon felt himself relax as the uncontaminated dark energies swept over him. But even as he calmed down, he could feel Lyna becoming uncharacteristically tense, no doubt the darkness didn't sit right with her. Hiita on the other hand, seemed to be in a much better state, though as a fire attribute, she must not feel the effects quite as much.

"See there?" Dharc pointed to a dark shape looming in the distance, "That's where the Shadow Priestess is, if anyone might know where Meda Bat is, it's her."

"And do we have to walk through the forest to get there?" Lyna asked.

"It's not that long, and why are you whispering?" Dharc asked, half amused, half irate.

"I don't know, it just seemed to fit the mood."

The moment they set foot into the forest, the darkness seemed to increase tenfold. The trees grew uglier the further in they got, and every now and then, a scuttling sound would echo from some far off place. Dharc ignored the sounds, though even his vision had dimmed. Anything they encountered here were probably weaker fiends, the real monsters usually appeared much deeper into the forest.

"Are you sure there's no way around?" Lyna squeaked, her mood had taken a complete turn from her ride on Dekoichi.

"No, just close your eyes if you're so scared." Dharc replied.

"But that makes it worse, what if someone's behind us now?"

Dharc stopped, Lyna bumped into him. He turned around, "I don't see anyone, do you?"

"What if someone's looking at us from a distance?" Lyna continued, "Trailing us, and whenever we look back, it disappears into the darkness?"

"Lyna!" Hiita snapped, though she too seemed on edge.

"I'm sorry!" Lyna wailed.

Dharc glanced behind him, surprised to see Lyna only a few inches from his back, "Are you cowering? Look, I've been through this passage dozens of times and nothing's actually attacked me."

"Actually? What's that suppose to mean?!"

"Dharc, honestly." Hiita held her staff out, stopping him, "Can't we just light one fire? One teensy little fire?"

About to say no, Dharc made the mistake of looking at Hiita before so. She wore an expression that clearly said that she would not take no for an answer, and on the occasion that he dared say no anyway, she'd beat him into the ground. But still...

"No, absolutely not." Dharc said, "In a sea of darkness, don't you think a flame's going to attract the monsters of the night more than anything else? Why do you think the Unshaven Angler has a light even though its blind? Because there's no other light on the bottom of the ocean!"

He couldn't help but feel a slight surge of satisfaction at the fact that not even Hiita could argue with that. Sure, there was a twinge of sympathy somewhere in him for his companions but it dwarfed in the fact that he was trying to keep them from getting eaten.

"Look, just follow me." he said, "Keep your eyes forward and don't look to the side, and don't let your mind wander."

Dharc started walking at a faster pace before either Hiita or Lyna could argue. This time he kept a merciless focus and refused to slow his pace. Perhaps it would've made more sense to just run through the forest, but Dharc was fairly sure that it would've left a formidable crack in his pride. Despite his advice, he could still hear Lyna whimpering; it almost disturbed him to see the normally bright and cheerful girl in this state.

"Look, there's the break in the trees, and we're still alive. I told you there was nothing to worry about."

Lyna let out a held breath once they left the ugly twisted trees behind. A little bit further and they happened upon the small village. It was nothing like the whimsicle buildings in the Citadel, all the houses here were gray and square. Most of the windows had shutters and curtains over them.

"What kind of place is this?" Hiita asked, kicking a piece of wood out of her way, "Is this some kind of ghost town?"

She smiled sheepishly as Lyna jumped. Dharc raised an eyebrow, when exactly had Lyna aquired her fear of gouls?

"It's not abandoned. The people in this town are actually quite happy with their lives." Dharc replied, "But I suppose they like their privacy more than most."

He nodded towards one of few houses with an open window, a small girl was peering out at them until a woman quickly pulled her away and drew the curtains. They had gotten use to Dharc over the years but with Lyna and Hiita with him...

"Ignore them and they'll ignore us. Come on, we're almost there."

They left the village behind and were nearing the Shadow Priestess' residence, a large castle like structure. But Dharc stopped abruptly, "Who are they?"

The other two Charmers followed his gaze to two fiends standing at the gate. They both had grayish armor like skin and looked none too friendly.

"Who are you and what is your business?" one asked, as the three spellcasters approached them.

"I'm here to see the Shadow Priestess." Dharc said briskly.

"And what business do you have with the Priestess?" the second one hissed.

This one looked rather like a barrier with giant hands while the first fiend had a humanoid form. There were many fiends in Ohm, several of them under the employment of the Shadow Priestess or aquaintences who visited her home, but Dharc had never seen these two.

"I'm her apprentice."

"No one is allowed to see the Shadow Priestess, she is in an important meeting." said the barrier like one.

Something about the two fiends looked rather familiar to Dharc, where exactly had he seen fiends with that sort of grayish armor?

"You two are Dark World fiends." he finally said.

"Dark World?" Hiita tilted her head, "You mean like Doriado was talking about?"

"The people with the mad king?" Lyna piped up.

"Do not dare speak of King Brron." the barrier growled.

It looked about ready to clobber the lot of them. Dharc gritted his teeth, Doriado had warned him to only fetch Meda Bat, he wasn't prepared to get into a fight with Dark World guards.

"Calm yourself, Renge." said the humanoid one, "Rumors fly freely in other worlds, do not punish them for another's misunderstanding.

He then turned to Dharc who tentatively relaxed.

"You say you are the apprentice of the Shadow Priestess, then surely you must understand that she is worthy of your trust. She is with a very important guest, I'm afraid that I will have to turn you away. If you try to force entry, then I must fight you." said the fiend.

Reluctantly Dharc nodded, "We'll leave."

He might've been able to charm one of the fiends and sicked it on the other but even if they had defeated the two, the repercussions would probably turn out to be more than he could handle. Not to mention that there were no doubt reinforcements near by.

"Dharc, we came all this way." Hiita said indignantly.

"We're not here to look for trouble." Dharc said sadly, "Come on."

"Listen to your friend, Girl. He might have just saved your life." sneered Renge.

Reluctantly, Hiita followed Dharc but not before throwing Renge a venomous glare that would've made Venomanaga proud. Lyna, still shaken from the surroundings followed without complaint.

"You are too kind to outsiders, Zure." they heard Renge say as they headed back.

"What the hell, Dharc?" Hiita asked furiously as soon as they were out of ear shot, "We come all this way, ride on a suicidal train, and you just let them bully you around?"

"Doriado told us to come here only to find Meda Bat, not to attack people." Dharc replied, "If we attacked those two then we're bound to get not only ourselves but our teachers and even Endymion in trouble."

"But how are we goin to find Meda Bat?" Lyna asked.

Dharc shook his head, he steered them towards a back trail around the village. The night was getting darker, maybe he should just find them a place to stay for the night and go home in the morning. What else could do?

Suddenly there was a rustling sound, Dharc ignored it, probably just some rat crawling around. But after a little while, he heard the rustling again. Was it following them?

"Did you..." he began.

But he trailed off as out of the bushes, burst a winged eyeball fiend.

* * *

**AN: And that's chapter four.**

**Longer than the other chapters.**

**Thanks for reading, reviews and opinions are appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

Dharc jumped back as a winged eyeball came bursting out of the bushes, looking very disgruntled.

"Meda Bat?!" he yelled after a moment of shocked silence.

Meda Bat looked very pathetic indeed, it was covered with a fine layer of dust and scraps of twigs. However, in just a split second, Dharc's sympathy quickly changed to annoyance. Picking the bat up by its leg, he gave it a good shake, sending a mist of earth and grime cascading to the ground.

"Why are you still in Ohm?" he demanded, dusting the last bit of debris off of Meda Bat's wings.

"You have no idea how hard I've tried!" Meda Bat insisted, "I flew to Ohm just like you said, then I tried to get into the castle but there's all these fiends surrounding it. I tried looking for a window or something to sneak in but those stupid Dark World fiends have got really sharp eyes and the third time they caught me, the gray and spiky one threatened to eat me!"

"Gray and spiky?" Lyna asked, "Aren't they all gray and spiky?"

"Why didn't you come back then?" Dharc asked.

"I tried that too!" Meda Bat snapped indignantly, "I tried to get out through the train station but they've got Skull Servants everywhere!"

"Skull Servants?" Hiita looked back towards the direction from which they came, "We didn't see anything, in fact we got in without any trouble."

"Yeah, they let you in all right but they don't exactly let you out! I mean, I'm just a little bat and I couldn't even sneak past them! The forest is pratically crawling with those things."

Lyna froze, "They're in the forest? So there was something there!"

Dharc did not answer, he was more occupied by an all together more important matter than floating skeletons, like how they were suppose to get home. With the perpetual darkness in Ohm, waiting until the daylight scared all the Skull Servants away was not an option.

"Why don't we find a place to eat." he finally decided, "Then we're getting back to the Citadel, even if we have to fight our way back."

Much to Dharc's dismay, the three charmers and the flying eyeball decided that it was best to head to the closest inn, which happened to be owned by The Bistro Butcher whose antics with a Hungry Burger was still quite fresh in Dharc's mind.

While Lyna was busy discovering that the black ashy looking thing the Butcher cooked was among the best things she had ever eaten, Dharc kept throwing glances over his shoulder, was that a hamburger bun peaking out of the pantry?

"What is this stuff anyways?" Hiita asked, prodding the black mushy thing with her fork as Lyna continued to shovel it into her mouth.

"If only I knew." Dharc reluctantly took his eyes off the Butcher and turn back to his companions. He handed a dish of creepy crawlies to Meda Bat who was already munching happily on a Basic Insect. "But we need to figure out what's going on here and more importantly, a way to get out. Meda Bat, do you know why the Dark World fiends are in Ohm?"

"Nope." the bat looked up, "But they've got the whole of Shadow Priestess' castle surrounded. I haven't seen her outside either."

"What does the Shadow Priestess have that they could want?" Lyna asked.

"Who knows, dark artifacts, magic tomes. I'm just wondering why they took so many precautions." Dharc tentatively tried a bit of the black stuff that they were served and to the Butcher's credit, it tasted rather edible, "Its not like the Shadow Priestess broadcasts her every decision for everyone to hear, her castle is plenty secretive. Why all the guards? Why ship a pack of Skull Servants to patrol the forest?"

"So what now?" Hiita prodded the thing passed off as food with her fork, "Skull Servants aren't strong, can't we just blast our way through?"

"But there's loads of them!" Meda Bat protested.

"Skull Servants are blind", Dharc tapped a finger on the table contemplatively, "They hear a sound and they swarm around it. And Meda Bat can't fly without making that ticking sound."

"Hey!"

"It's true! Do you need some oil for your joints or something?" Dharc grinned, swatting, "But I digress, our best chance is probably to go through as silently as possible and attract as little attention as possible."

He looked towards Lyna, "Hear that?"

"Totally!" she yelled, causing all the plates to clatter as her knees hit the table and instantly attracting many turning heads.

After finishing the black edible substance and paying their bill, the three companions and the bat found themselves standing as close to the forest as they could get without actually being inside it.

"Alright, here's the plan", Dharc said, "We're going to walk as quickly but as quietly as we possibly can. Don't cast any spells unless we're getting ripped apart by angry skeletons. And most importantly, _no talking_."

After getting a nod from both companions and Meda Bat who was shoved into his pocket to prevent his wings from giving them away, Dharc stepped into the shadow of the forest.

He had never been more grateful at how well worn his shoes were, they made no sound on the hard packed dirt road. After a few steps without being mauled to death by a Skull Servant, his confidence rose. He took a few more steps, and he was still in one piece. A dozen more steps, and no sight of a Skull Servant.

After graduating from taking shuffling steps no larger than a few inches to a normal stride, Dharc was starting to wonder if there really were any Skull Servants. The levitating bags of bones were so weak that he couldn't even sense its presence, how dangerous could they really be?

Somewhere high above their heads a stray breeze swirled through the forest and a dried up old leaf finally decided that it was simply not worth it and broke away from its branch. And sneaking silently through the air, it came to a rest moments before Dharc put his foot down, directly under his heel.

The sudden crunch nearly made Dharc jump out of his skin, Lyna who had once again been cowering behind him bumped into his shoulder. Seeing her friends jam to a stop, Hiita also stumbled, her staff making a scraping sound against the dirt.

Almost instantaniously, purple clad skeletons seemed to morph out of the darkness and began to slowly float towards the three charmers. Lyna opened her mouth to speak but Dharc quickly shook his head.

Instead, he pointed his staff at a Skull Servant off to the side. A dark seal appeared on the Skull Servants forehead, it was an extremely weak monster, and Dharc had no problem charming it.

_Go forward, call the others away, _he ordered silently.

Obediently the Skull Servant floated back into the forest and gave a loud shriek. Like clockwork, the other Skull Servants heads turned and like puppets, all headed back into the darkness.

Waving his hand for Hiita and Lyna to follow, Dharc continued down the path, albiet quite a bit faster and more terrified than before. As he marched down the path he kept his head down as he concentrated on maintaining his dark seal. The magic began more and more difficult to maintain with distance, and added to the fact that he didn't really know where the Skull Servant had headed, he needed all his concentration.

He did not open his eyes until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking behind him, Hiita was pointing at something ahead. Just a couple of yards ahead was the break in the woods and beyond that, the train station.

In relief, Dharc decided that it was safe to drop his dark seal. Eagerly he headed for the break, though carefully watching for any more dead leaves.

They were going to make it, just a little more and they'd be home free. But just as Dharc was about to exit the forest, Lyna screamed.

"What?!" he yelled furiously.

Looking to see what could have possibly bean enough to give away the perfect opportunity to escape, Dharc found himself staring at a beam of light shooting up from the Shadow Priestess' castle.

Then the night broke and for the first time, sunlight came over Ohm.


	6. Chapter 6

Dharc threw his arm over his eyes, letting his sleeve block his face from the brilliant flash of light that rose up from the Shadow Priestess' castle. He allowed himself a tiny sliver of sight, just enough to see the formerly black sky of Ohm flash in a brilliant blue as if it were touched by the sun as it would any other world.

But just as briefly as it came, the flash of light ebbed and darkness descended again. Just as Dharc began to tentatively lower his arm, a bang shattered the air. It pounded through his head, nearly making him lose his footing.

Up above, a bright streak lanced through the sky.

"What the hell was that?" Hiita asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't-"

Dharc was cut off as the metallic clang of boots rang through the now still night. Over the arch of the hill, came marching Dark World fiends. They were walking in formation, or rather speed walking. Walking so fast that the three charmers had just enough time to wake themselves up to move out of the way. The fiends took no notice of the three travelers and the bat on the side of the road, Dharc even spied the fiend named Zure who didn't so much as acknowledge them. As soon as the line of fiends ended, a stream of Skull Servants appeared from the trees and followed suit.

Neither of the three spoke until the small platoon of fiends were out of their sight.

"What the hell was that?" Hiita repeated.

"Hell if I know" Dharc replied, stunned.

They stood in silence for a moment longer until Lyna spoke up.

"Let's get going."

"Going where?" Dharc asked.

"To the Shadow Priestess of course!" she said matter of factly, "Now that the fiends are gone, we should be allowed to go inside."

"No." Dharc said immediately, "We're going home immediately."

"What?" Lyna and Hiita said in unison, making him flinch.

"We were told to get Meda Bat." Dharc jerked his thumb towards the eyeball bat fluttering above his shoulder, "And we have our flying eyeball, yeah? We're not here to butt in on other people's business."

"Let me get this straight." Lyna seized his shoulders, "This world of eternal night just turned to morning, and you just want to pretend it nevered happened?"

"I would've suggested informing Endymion or someone who knows better than us." Dharc snapped.

"What's the problem Dharc?" Hiita asked.

"There's no problem, I just-"

"What would it hurt to just go up to the Shadow Priestess and ask? You're her apprentice aren't you? And what about Meda Bat? Aren't you at least concerned about how it got caught up in all this?" Hiita demanded.

"You think too much of my position here." Dharc said though by now his resolution had sagged, "I'm not much more than the Shadow Priestess' dog, she just gives me a longer leash than Doriado."

As Dharc's second moment of dismay of the day, the three charmers found themselves once again in front of the gates of the castle. This time, a different person stood in their way, one that Dharc recognized.

"Gorz, is everything alright?" he asked.

The red haired man nodded, "Everything's fine."

"How can you sound so calm?" Lyna exclaimed, "This place suppose to always be dark and it just exploded with light."

"Is this a light spellcaster?" Gorz asked, peering at Lyna behind his vizor, "And a fire spellcaster as well, what business do you have bringing them to Ohm."

"They're my companions, we just want a word with the Shadow Priestess." Dharc replied.

"You may go in, but these two have no business in Ohm, we do not welcome other attributes."

"Wait, they don't mean any harm. We just want a brief word." Dharc protested, glancing behind him.

"Either you send your friends on their way and enter alone, or I will have to turn you all back." Gorz's voice took a hard edge, and all of a sudden Dharc became much more aware of the giant blade on the man's back.

Turning back to Hiita and Lyna, he shrugged helplessly, "Let's go home."

"No way." Lyna glared up at Gorz but the effect was massively lost as Gorz loomed over all three of them, "I _really _want to know what's going on now. You go on ahead."

Dharc exchanged a glance with Meda Bat who was hanging upside down on his staff. He grimaced then nodded, "Alright, let me in."

Gorz stepped aside from the gate, and Dharc walked through the metal bars. When he stopped to look back, Lyna and Hiita already had their backs to him.

"Looks like its just you and me." he said to Meda Bat.

The tall gates of the castle swung open before him, revealing a floor of mirrors. The already dim castle was decorated with ornaments of dark browns and purples and what little light came from blueish flames burning in trays of magical stones.

It was a none too welcoming ensemble, Dharc would've liked to hang signs around that said, "Go away if you're not dark attribute". Yet, even with the stone gargoyles scowling down at him and the arched ceiling made for the sole purpose of echoing, Dharc liked this castle. He had many fond memories of trying to make head or tails of some conveluted spell with the Shadow Priestess looking over his shoulder, unsure of whether she was about to take sympathy or give him a word lashing.

The court room was rather peaceful when it was empty, without all the dark creatures mulling around. The echoing effect used to scare the life out of Dharc when he was just a small child, and seeing Ohm for the first time. Yet even now, he could not quite rid himself of the habit of stepping as lightly as physically possible to prevent himself from sounding like a Zombie Mammoth.

He stopped in front of the Shadow Priestess' grand chair and looked around. The woman was no where in sight.

"Can't you just come out this time?" Dharc called, his voice reverberating off the walls.

"Oh all right, but you need to learn some persistence."

The Shadow Priestess materialized out of the ashes from a tray of fire. She sat down in her chair and immediately abandoned her moment of childishness. Her expression changed from one of mild amusement to praticed solemnity.

"What was that?" Dharc asked, "That flash of light?"

"No hello?" the Shadow Priestess held up a finger, "Aren't you happy to see me at all?"

"Hello." Dharc said blandly.

"That's better. The beam of light was a favor for my good friend Brron." she said simply.

"Would help if you just spat it out. Tell me he didn't just have a sudden urge to see the sky."

"Tell me something Dharc." the Shadow Priestess leaned onto her elbow, "Do you love the darkness?"

Dharc raised an eyebrow, he hated it when this happened.

"Please don't start this, whenever you start this we just end up talking in circles. If you don't want to tell me, can't you just say so?"

"I'll leave it at: you'll see." the corners of her lips quirked up slightly.

"Will I like it?" Dharc asked tentatively.

"Yes, I should think you will."

Dharc decided to leave it at that, his dear mentor was usually right. And he long learned to leave her to it and hopefully she'll never pull out a phrase like 'mom knows best'.

"Then can you tell me why Meda Bat wasn't allowed inside?"

"Yeah!" Meda Bat chirped, "I just wanted to talk but they kept kicking me out!"

"I wasn't aware you were calling." Shadow Priestess said.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

Dharc frowned, "You'll let me sit in your council but you won't tell me about a beam of light?"

"Yes."

Suddenly Dharc understood the emotional equivilant of a balloon deflating. Not to mention that he was feeling exceptionally foolish standing in the middle of an empty room, in front of a mentor who was staring at him as if he were an Alien.

"Guess we'll be going now then." he said, with a sigh."

Turning almost sarcastically on his heel, he started for the door. But just as the gates began to creak open-

"Hold on a moment." the Shadow Priestess called, "Why don't you stay for a while? Have you had dinner yet?"

"We made a stop at the Bistro Butchers." Dharc said earnestly.

"When I said dinner, I meant food."

"Lyna liked it."

Half an hour later, Dharc was sitting around a rectangular table with the Shadow Priestess and the members of her court. It was almost like a normal dinner if he had been there studying, complete with Saagi the Clown doing cartwheels on the table and Dark Grepher cutting small food items with his sword, nearly slicing into the person across from him.

If the Shadow Priestess hadn't been sitting at the head and watching him like a hawk, Dharc would've asked around to see if any of the other dark creatures saw the beam of light. Surely that idiot clown Saagi would let something slip, he'd even suffer a few pratical jokes if that was what it took.

But no, he could practically feel the Shadow Priestess' eyes burning the side of his head. After pushing around his food for a while, he contented himself with resting his head in his hand. More than decent food that didn't look like black dirt, he just wanted a pillow.

Meda Bat also looked drowsy, nearly falling out of flight and into a bowl of something orange and jelly-like.

The conversations drowned into a hum, and the room became comfortably warm. Dharc could feel himself drifting off into sleep until a loud clatter jerked him awake and startled him. Instinctively he pushed away from the table, just in time to avoid a plate of fried Blade Rabbit (luckily the cook hadn't put the teeth in as a garnish).

"Aw, is Dharc falling asleep? Is it past your bed time?" Saagi shrieked with laughter and flipped away, causing more chaos as he dodged between dishes.

"Shut up." Dharc said half heartedly, he was very tempted to throw that bowl of orange jelly at the clown but considering that Dark Voltanis was sitting in front of him, well, he wasn't confident that his charming magic would help him if he missed.

Once the dishes were cleared away, and Saagi was calmed down (as much as the crazy clown could be), Dharc picked up a sleeping Meda Bat and said goodbye.

"Are you going to mention this to your city?" the Shadow Priestess asked.

"I think Hiita and Lyna have already." Dharc said, "Is that alright?"

"Of course, like I said. I think you will like what is about to happen. Off you go."


End file.
